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Pro:
Weight reduction
MAYBE 3-5 hp
Louder exhaust note
Cons:
You wont pass inspection
If they (the law) catches you...huge fine (google it)
The exhaust smell is horrible
Thanks guys. I have high flow cats already (along w/headers and B&B's). The car already stinks pretty bad on start-up until the cats heat up, so I can't imagine no cats at all. Was more interested in seeing what gains could be had, if any. Thanks for the comments/suggestions.
It does!! The chamber that you end up with after busting out the core causes turbulence in the pipe and you loose valuable exhaust scavenging thus reducing power. If you want more power, get a set of headers and high flow cats.
Bill, I respect your opinion as do most here... I will say, that just like many topics on this forum (and other forums) there are always countering opinions for the same topic depending on which thread you're in.
I've heard that the chamber of a pup cat is a pressurized cylinder with the engine running and turbulence due to physics isn't to the level of what you're saying in your post.... in fact it's very minor and is a non-issue.
Again, there are two sides to each coin.
I don't know which one is correct, but there is a 14% reduction in backpressure from the 2 cat pipes ('02+) compared to my 4 catted '01.... -on the cheap, if adding a 224 cam, I think I'll take the "risk" of a little turbulence (if true) for the trade of 14% reduction in backpressure.
If we are talking about stock engines or bolt ons I would def keep the cats. If we are talking about boost, high RPMs, bigger power then the cats will restrict quite a bit. heads/cam will be fine with hfc's but big cubes, etc should toss em.
It does!! The chamber that you end up with after busting out the core causes turbulence in the pipe and you loose valuable exhaust scavenging thus reducing power. If you want more power, get a set of headers and high flow cats.
Gutting the pup cats is a no-no on Corvettes.
In general, I'd be surprised if people around here would see even a one horsepower gain by removing the cats on their stock Corvettes. (I'll concede that the results might be different on a non-stock car.) The smells, destruction of the environment, and inspection laws make removing cats in the quest for horsepower a downright stupid choice.
If we are talking about stock engines or bolt ons I would def keep the cats. If we are talking about boost, high RPMs, bigger power then the cats will restrict quite a bit. heads/cam will be fine with hfc's but big cubes, etc should toss em.
Designer Imagines A Corvette That Looks More Like a Corvette Than the Corvette
Slideshow: A Jaguar designer's personal project imagines what a modern front-engined Corvette might look like if Chevrolet revisited the golden age of the Stingray.